Mitch McConnell, the woodchipper

4/30/12 2:08 PM EDT

The 2012 Senate cycle has barely heated up but Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is already looking past the horizon to 2014, when his own Kentucky seat is up for reelection.

Roll Call reports today on McConnell's preparations to run for a sixth term — which would extend his tenure as the longest-serving senator in Kentucky history — and concludes the flight path seems clear at the moment.

"[T]here is little evidence the movement that helped elect Sen. Rand Paul is preparing to take on McConnell. The danger to McConnell next cycle from the right — and the left — appears marginal, even as he could be running for reelection as the Majority Leader in the first midterm of a Republican administration, depending on what happens this cycle."

What's most striking about the story is the reverent tone that strategists and state pols take in discussing his political operation. It's described as a fearsome machine that excels at research, pays close attention to the grass-roots and is always looking around corners for potential rivals. In that sense, he's got much in common with his counterpart, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Here's how a former McConnell staffer framed it to reporter Joshua Miller:

"If you’re sitting there thinking about running against Mitch McConnell: Remember ‘Fargo,’” former McConnell chief of staff Billy Piper said, referring to the Oscar-winning movie. “And remember the end, when that guy is putting that chopped-up person’s leg in the big woodchipper machine? Mitch McConnell is the woodchipper.”